Baillieu wants longer hours and merit pay for teachers

By Farrah Tomazin

TEACHERS would work longer hours, have fewer chances to move up the pay scale and would be rewarded on merit - rather than just years of service - under contentious proposals by the state government.

As thousands of public school teachers prepare to walk off the job this week, the government is pushing for a new workplace deal it claims will meet Premier Ted Baillieu's election promise to make Victorian teachers the best paid in the country.

Illustration: Matt Golding.

Under the plan, all teachers would be offered annual wage rises of 2.5 per cent - far less than the union's demand for 30 per cent over three years. But seven out of 10 teachers would also receive performance pay, ranging from 1.4 per cent to 10 per cent of their annual wage, if they can meet targets that lift classroom standards.

As a productivity trade-off, teachers in larger secondary schools would be required to teach in the classroom for an extra hour a week.

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Wage progression rates would also change, so that only 80 per cent of eligible teachers would move up the pay scale every year - down from almost 99.8 per cent last year.

The government says the changes would ''recognise and reward'' the best teachers while bringing the profession into line with the rest of the Victorian public service, which has an annual progression rate of about 83 per cent.

''If you have great teachers in your school, of course they should move up the pay scale - if they meet performance targets,'' said Kristy McSweeney, spokeswoman for Teaching Profession Minister Peter Hall.

But teachers are outraged, branding the plan as offensive and divisive. Australian Education Union state president Mary Bluett said the government's offer would not make all teachers the best paid in the country, because not all would get bonuses.

''To reward some teachers and not others for what is most frequently a team effort is not how the profession operates,'' she said. ''It's taking a punitive approach, rather than a professional growth approach, and it will just drive more people out of teaching.''

The proposals were put to the union as part of enterprise bargaining negotiations. They come as teachers prepare to strike on Thursday in a move that could shut down scores of schools and cause chaos for parents.

The last time teachers walked off the job, during wage negotiations with the Brumby government in 2008, thousands took part. But this year's strike is expected to be bigger, with teachers reeling over government cuts to programs such as the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, the School Start Bonus and the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Montmorency Secondary College teacher Heather Douglas said the plan to increase average teaching times in secondary schools was another slap in the face. As a student wellbeing co-ordinator, Ms Douglas said she often started work at 8am, stayed back after hours ''and rarely ever get a recess or lunchtime because that's when kids want to see me''.

The government says teaching<!-- orginalstoryid:35919815 continue pg 2-->times in Victorian schools fell from an average 18 hours a week in 2000 to 16.3 last year, while wages continue to rise. Its offer to the union involves:

■Merit-based pay in which 10 per cent of teachers get a bonus equal to 10 per cent of their pay, 20 per cent would get a 6 per cent bonus and 40 per cent would get a 1.4 per cent bonus.

■Automatic progression for about 80 per cent of teachers a year. Principals who want more staff moving up the pay scale would have to plead their case to the Education Department.

The union wants a 30 per cent pay rise over three years, a maximum class size of 20 students in primary and secondary schools and a reduction in the number of short-term contracts. The government believes the union's demands would cost $14 billion, but will not say how much its own offer would cost or save taxpayers.